09/12/2025
Ilitha Labantu, together with Community Cohesion, The Character Company and the Western Cape Department of Social Development, will host a Men’s Conference from 9–10 December 2025 at Bertha House, Mowbray. The conference is convened as a focused, closed-session engagement for invited participants.
Bringing together men, practitioners and sector leaders from across the Western Cape, the conference creates a dedicated space for critical engagement on the social realities shaping men’s lives, including the pressures, expectations and contradictions embedded within contemporary masculinities. These dynamics continue to influence behaviour, interpersonal conduct and the broader patterns of harm that emerge in society.
Anchored in the theme Acknowledge Realities: Awareness to Action, the conference invites participants to reflect on their own experiences while interrogating the norms, narratives and conditions that give rise to both men's agency and men's vulnerability. It is a platform for honest discourse, thoughtful analysis and the collective exploration of how men can contribute meaningfully to shifting harmful norms and advancing a more accountable and equitable social environment.
The two-day programme includes dialogue sessions, workshops and thematic discussions culminating in the development and signing of a Men’s Charter for Community Cohesion and Positive Masculinity, a shared commitment toward sustained and intentional action.
